


Engraved in the Hearts of Men

by Perpetual Motion (perpetfic)



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Lawyer Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr., M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-06-30 11:17:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19852039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perpetfic/pseuds/Perpetual%20Motion
Summary: Sonny's first trial as lead ADA, and Rafael can't wait to see him in action.





	Engraved in the Hearts of Men

Sonny's first trial as the lead ADA is scheduled to take four days. Rafael makes arrangements to have that whole week off, and Sonny gives him a surprised look at the news. "What? Why?"

"Because I can," Rafael replies. He leans across the kitchen island and pecks Sonny on the mouth. "Because first trials are terrifying, and we both know I have more than enough vacation time to burn, and it's not like I want to do anything else this week besides watch you work."

Sonny's eyes go soft. He brushes their noses together, then turns his attention back to chopping vegetables. "You're really gonna spend four days in the gallery watching me prosecute a small-time drug lord?"

"And loving every second of it," Rafael replies. "You've worked your ass off to get where you are, and I look forward to watching that ass in action."

Sonny laughs and tosses a piece of carrot at Rafael. "I guess that's fair, since that's about all I do when you're working."

Rafael laughs with him and sips his scotch. 

*

Sunday night, Sonny's wired and trying to pretend like he's not. Rafael puts on music and holds out a hand, and they dance around the living room. He whispers lucky words in Sonny's ear and tells him he's brilliant. Sonny presses his cheek to Rafael's hair and sighs quietly in contentment. 

"I'm here because of you," he says.

"You're here because of yourself," Rafael replies, nuzzling Sonny's neck. "We're here," he squeezes Sonny's hand so Sonny knows he's talking about being together, "because of us."

"We have good taste," Sonny says, and Rafael hums in agreement as the song changes. 

*

Monday morning, Sonny's focused. He showers and shaves, murmuring his opening statement to himself as Rafael serves him eggs on thick-cut toast and makes him a Cuban coffee for his travel mug.

"Defense is going to try and discredit most of my witnesses because of previous drug offenses," Sonny says as he double-checks everything in his briefcase.

"That's a simple fix," Rafael replies. "They're all clean now and got hooked because of the defendant. You can work that in with your eyes closed."

Sonny flashes him a quick smile. "You're the best."

Rafael shrugs and does a quick check of himself in the mirror by the front door. "Do I pass inspection?" he asks. He's wearing a dove gray sweater with a pink button-up underneath and black corduroy slacks with a pair of casual dress shoes. 

"Why are you being inspected?" Sonny asks, trailing his fingers over the sweater. He'd picked it out for Rafael a few weeks ago, and Rafael's been waiting for a reason to wear it. The fact that it matches Sonny's suit is a bonus. 

"I'm the trophy husband for the new, hotshot ADA," Rafael says. 

Sonny shakes his head and pulls Rafael in to kiss him. "And here I thought that was my role."

"Nah, you're the trophy husband for that jaded asshole ADA. I hear he's great in bed, though."

Sonny laughs, which was exactly what Rafael was going for. "Oh, he's fantastic."

*

Rafael sits in the third row of the gallery, positioning himself so he can see the jury and the witness box easily. He watches Sonny unpack his briefcase and lay out his case notes and spare legal pad. 

The defense attorney walks in. He's a mid-level lawyer clawing his way up one of the big firms, Rafael knows because Sonny's mentioned it, but he's never seen the man, and Sonny's only mentioned him in terms of motions and pre-trial arguments. He's younger than Sonny but walks with an arrogance that speaks to an inflated sense of self he hasn't earned.

"Well, here we are," the lawyer says to Sonny, and Rafael decides instantly he doesn't like him. There's something snide in his tone.

"Clayton, good to see you as always," Sonny replies. Rafael doesn't need to see his face to know Sonny's giving him a polite smile.

Clayton looks around the courtroom, and his gaze settles on Rafael. The spark in his eyes gets mean. He's been recognized. "I didn't know we were supposed to bring our comfort objects for the first day," he says.

Sonny glances over his shoulder. His face stays bland as he looks at Rafael. "You seem to be confused, Clayton. That's my husband. The legal pad's my comfort object."

Rafael has to fight not to smirk. He gives Clayton his best polite stare. 

"Well, nice to see you have support for your first real turn in the courtroom." Clayton turns towards his table before Sonny can say anything, and Rafael glares holes in the man's back as he greets his client. 

His phone buzzes in his pocket, distracting him, and he pulls it out to see Sonny's caught him watching. 

**Sonny:** He is always this much of a jackass.

**Rafael:** Does he know you used to be a cop?

**Sonny:** I haven't mentioned it, and he's only ever seen me second-chair Martinsdale.

Rafael lets himself grin at that. Martinsdale believes second chairs should be seen and not heard. If all Clayton knows is that Sonny's assisted him, his complete underestimation of Sonny makes total sense.

**Rafael:** I'll blow you at lunch if you make him flinch during your opening.

**Sonny:** Hey, some of us are working here.

The rest of the gallery starts to wander in, so Rafael pockets his phone rather than reply. The gallery settles, and the bailiff comes out. They all stand. The judge lets them sit, and then Sonny's on his feet again and the judge's nod.

"Members of the jury, thank you for being here today," Sonny starts out as he walks over to the jury box. "My name's Dominick Carisi, Jr. But everyone calls me Sonny. I'm the prosecutor for this case."

Sonny's smiling as he looks everyone over, and Rafael watches two jurors immediately decide to like him. 

"I know you all heard bits and pieces about this case when you were getting chosen for this jury, but now I want to take a little time and give you the details. First and foremost, my job is to show you all the evidence I can that the defendant, Mr. Oliver Wagner," Sonny pauses to wave towards the defense table, "is guilty of the crimes he is accused of. He is here today--and you are here today--because he is charged with three felonies. One is for human trafficking, and the other two are directly related to his work as a drug dealer."

Rafael doesn't miss the way Oliver Wagner startles at being called a drug dealer. He clearly doesn't like the term. 

Sonny pays him no attention, his entire focus on the jury. Their entire focus is on him as well. He's got them listening to every word and following every step he takes as he slowly paces back and forth, taking a moment to smile at each juror individually. "I'll skip the particulars about the drug dealing," he says. "I'll just say this: It is illegal to sell cocaine, and it is also illegal to do it within one thousand feet of a schoolyard. With the help of my witnesses, we will show you evidence that Mr. Oliver Wagner committed both of these felonies. We have eye witnesses, and we have video, and we even have a little DNA to throw into the mix just to keep you awake."

The jury chuckles lightly. Sonny's smile goes from polite and welcoming to something closer to his usual grin. His dimples flash, and Rafael hears a woman behind him whisper to someone else, and then the knowing giggle of two people objectifying a third.

"Now, about the human trafficking, I want to make sure everyone fully understands the charge before we get into it. I'm sure you've all heard of human trafficking for sexual reasons." Sonny pauses while the jurors nod. "It's been a growing news item for a long time," he says, leaning against the railing on the jury box. "If you look deep enough into articles about New York City, you might even see my name mentioned. Before I was an ADA, I was a detective, and I worked in the Special Victims Unit. I know quite a bit about human trafficking for sexual reasons."

Clayton's perfect, unreadable expression cracks slightly. Rafael sees a flash of worry. Clayton _definitely_ hadn't known Sonny's background with SVU. Rafael can practically see the internal scrambling Clayton is doing to reassess every strategy he has for the trial based on the new information that Sonny's got a deep background in the law.

"I'm mentioning my background for a reason," Sonny continues, his natural sincerity rolling off him as he takes a step back and gestures to Oliver Wagner again. "The human trafficking that Mr. Oliver Wagner is accused of is _not_ sexual in nature. I have absolutely no evidence that Mr. Oliver Wagner has _ever_ committed a single crime that could be even remotely related to a sexual offense. However, that does not mean the human trafficking he engaged in wasn't devestating to the victims or their families. Young men and women--some as young as fifteen--were kidnapped on the orders of Mr. Oliver Wagner and sent out of the city to rural areas where they were forced to work eighteen hours a day making drugs for Mr. Oliver Wagner to sell and to have his associates sell."

Clayton's panic is starting to show on his face now. He can see how much the jury is liking Sonny and how clearly Sonny knows what he's talking about. Rafael leans back on the bench and crosses his arms. If there's not an effort to plea out by the end of the day, he'll be shocked. 

"These young men and women didn't want to go with Mr. Oliver Wagner. They did not want to be trapped in an unknown location under lock and key, forced to make drugs. They'll tell you this themselves, and they'll also tell you how they came to even be in Mr. Oliver Wagner's orbit."

Sonny pauses and takes a breath. Rafael knows what comes next. He's listened to Sonny rehearse this part of his opening a dozen times. It's the trickiest bit, to show the jury he's not afraid of the background his witnesses have but to also--hopefully--clear some knee-jerk prejudicial expectations from the jury before he ever calls his first witness. 

"The people who have agreed to testify," Sonny says solemnly, "all of them are in recovery from drug addiction. All of them were addicted to drugs when Mr. Oliver Wagner had them trafficked and sent away to make drugs for him. He knew they were vulnerable. He knew they had--at best--difficult relationships with their family and friends, and he preyed on them."

"I said it earlier, and I'll repeat it now: Mr. Oliver Wagner is _not_ a sex offender. He is not here because he chose to traffic people for sexual reasons. He is here because he _chose_ to facilitate the kidnapping and imprisonment of people who he knew--because he or one of his partners sold them drugs--were addicted to drugs and would not necessarily be missed. He made a series of deliberate, careful choices to harm a large number of people for his own gain, and with the help of my witnesses and other evidence, I will show you how that is the definition of human trafficking under the law."

The jury is looking at Sonny with deep respect. They like him. They appreciate how forthright he is about the troubles his witnesses have had. They approve of how determined he is to not paint Oliver Wagner with the wrong brush for being a human trafficker. It's an even more impressive opening now that Rafael's watching it with the jury's reaction. 

And with Clayton's. Who purses his lips together while Sonny thanks the jury and takes his seat. He's completely re-writing his opening on the fly. Rafael's sure of it. He's gone up against his share of Clayton-types. Clayton was going to focus on how the witnesses couldn't be trusted _because_ they were in recovery. He was going to accuse Sonny of making the trafficking sound _worse_ than it was because everyone connects the phrase to sexual assault. He was going to play on the fact that this was Sonny's first trial as the lead ADA, probably lightly accuse him of being a bit overbearing about bringing the case to trial. 

But all that's out the window now. Sonny's taken every possible bad angle Clayton was ready to use and turned it around for the jury. He's shown them he's honest, forthright, and kind. A guy like Clayton, he doesn't have any idea how to counter that.

He rolls with a fairly standard "innocent until proven guilty" that makes Rafael want to roll his eyes. The jury also appears to be unimpressed.

The rest of the morning is taken up with Sonny's first two witnesses. He's tackling the drug felonies first thing. They're cut and dried, especially with the video evidence and the pile of cigarette butts with Oliver Wagner's DNA left at the same corner.

Clayton cross examines the witnesses, but there's no place to get a foothold in the testimony. The closest he gets to scoring a hit is the second cop agreeing that the video from the security camera is a bit blurry and, yes, he's seen a lot of people in the neighborhood dressed in hoodies and ballcaps and _not_ selling drugs.

When the judge announces lunch, Clayton crosses the aisle and says something to Sonny in a low tone. Sonny's expression stays neutral as he listens, then he says something that makes Clayton scowl. They have another exchange, and Clayton's scowl deepens. Sonny, on the other hand, is starting to look darkly amused.

Clayton storms back to his side of the aisle, grabs his briefcase, and leaves the courtroom by the back entrance that leads to the holding cells.

Sonny turns and leans against the table, giving Rafael a quick smile. They're the only two left in the room.

"An excellent morning," Rafael says as he stands and walks up to the bar. He watches Sonny stretch his neck. "What'd he offer you to get out of getting his ass kicked around the courtroom all week?"

Sonny chuckles and smoothes his tie. "He wanted to drop the drug charges and get five-to-eight for the trafficking. I told him if he wanted just the trafficking charge, we start at twenty with no option for parole before ten."

"Tough," Rafael says. He tilts his chin up when Sonny leans down to press a quick kiss to his mouth.

"I learned from the best," Sonny replies. "He turned me down, of course."

"Of course."

"So I offered 25 flat for all the whole set, or we can meet back here after lunch, and I can keep showing him how a cop becomes a lawyer."

Rafael laughs, basking in the confidence Sonny is radiating. "And?"

"He's talking to his client," Sonny says. "Let's go to lunch. If he comes back with twenty, I'll agree to parole at fifteen, and you and I can have the rest of the week together."

"Taking a plea on your first trial just to spend time with me? Must be love," Rafael replies.

Sonny chuckles and drapes his arm across Rafael's shoulders. "Taking a plea because it's smart," he says. "And it means those kids who just got clean don't have to publicly re-live what they've overcome."

"Smart and kind," Rafael says, sliding his arm around Sonny's waist. "Sounds a lot like my husband."

"He must be a hell of a guy."

"He's fantastic," Rafael says as they step outside and start debating where to eat.

**Author's Note:**

> Lawyer!Sonny gives me so many feelings.


End file.
